| Match Pictures | Matches: 1915 – 1916 | 1915 Pics – 1916 Pics |
Trivia
- Celtic & World War One
- The referee seems to have favoured the Rangers in the match. The Herald records he: "gave a free kick when a penalty seemed the obvious decision,and disallowed a goal to one home forward for an apparent infringement by another"
- The Glasgow Herald carries a report of the sinking of the Greenock built P & O liner Persia off Crete by a German U-boat. LINK
Review
Teams
CELTIC:
Shaw, McNair,Dodds, Young, Johnstone, McMaster, McAtee, Gallacher, McColl, McMenemy, Browning
Scorers: McAtee, McColl
RANGERS:
Hempsey, Manderson, Muir, Gordon, Logan, Hendry, Duncan, Cunningham, Reid, Bowie, Paterson
Scorers: Cunningham, McNair; (OG)
Referee: H. J. Kelso (Hamilton)
Attendance: 40,000
Articles
Glasgow Herald 3rd January 1916
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
The Glasgow Herald, Monday January 3rd 1916
WRETCHED WEATHER
Unseasonable weather played havoc with the gates, and in some instances ruined the game as a spectacle. Thus the annual holiday fixture between Celtic and Rangers attracted about half the average gathering, and at Hampden the attendance was fractional compared with other and better days when Corinthians paid their annual visit.
WHERE LUCK TOLD.
Had Rangers scored a third goal at Parkhead the result would not have been more misleading that the draw which they actually secured. Fortunately the better team does not always win, otherwise football would not be the fascinating game it is, and if the Celtic were decidedly the better side on this occasion, though equal only in goals, they will be the first to admit that it has sometimes been their good fortune to be the inferior and the winning team at the same time.
So when the excitement of Saturday’s game has worn off the Parkhead players may feel thankful that this was not their rivals’ experience in a game that ought on play to have ended in a decisive home victory, and which required but one more touch of bad luck to end in unmerited defeat. It was a case of a good team doing the wrong thing at both ends of the field, of forwards missing the goal and defenders finding it or allowing opponents a clear passage, while all the time the vastly inferior side were held up and indebted for partial success to fortune which bore no resemblance to their play.
For, truth to tell, Rangers were a disappointing side, even to those who have come to be very modest in anticipation. Their front line contained but one serviceable player, and 20 minutes of Bowie merely accentuated the weakness of others. The wing halves were helpless against cleverer than themselves, and Hempsey did not exactly inspire confidence. In only one section were the visitors consistently and unexpectedly reliable. Manderson and Muir excelled themselves and surprised the critics, one by his reserve, the other by his enterprise, qualities which seemed to have been exchanged between the two for this occasion only. Yet nothing that the full backs did or could have accomplished would have saved the Light Blues had fortune deserved the name fickle and shone or frowned on each side in turn. But the goddess was as one-sided as the game, and that brought equality in the end.
The Celtic defence were more impressive than the other, yet a miskick by McMaster made Rangers’ first goal, as much a Ne’erday gift as the second, which was the work of McNair, with a little assistance from Duncan. There was no comparison between the forward lines as such or as individuals, and here again it was a case of being kind to the opposition as when Gallagher struck the post and the goalkeeper from six yards range.
The referee was successful in his efforts to be just and impartial, so when he gave a free kick when a penalty seemed the obvious decision, and disallowed a goal to one home forward for an apparent infringement by another, these decisions resembled the play of the home team as being excellent and unfortunate from a home point of view. Seldom does one find two such unevenly matched teams finish level, but because such an event is always possible 40,000 people remember the possibilities and forget all about the discomfort of such an unseasonably inclement day as ushered in the new year.
The Scotsman, Monday 3rd January, 1916
The great match at Parkhead, Glasgow – the return League engagement between the Celtic and Rangers – was patronised despite the extremely wet day, by some 30,000 people, and they saw a capital first half. The play during that period was brimful of interesting work, and was worthy of the occasion, but in the second half there was a decided falling off by the Rangers, who found it very difficult to make any headway. The Ibrox defence, however, stood up to the strain manfully, particularly the backs, who had a trying time. In the latter stages the Celtic did everything but score, and McMenemy missed one great chance which might easily have won the game. As it was the Rangers were sharers in the points at stake. All the scoring took place in the first half hour. Inside fifteen minutes from the start, Cunningham drove home a grand goal from thirty yards range, but that only spurred on the Celtic, and the equaliser came from McColl, who finished off some brilliant work by Browning. Immediately afterwards McAtee gave his side the lead with a grand left foot drive. This quick scoring put quite another complexion on the game, but, pegging away, the Rangers managed to get on level terms, though in the end it was McNair who tipped the ball into his own goal, following a centre from Duncan.